The company is joining a stampede of high profile start-ups heading toward the public markets.
SAN FRANCISCO — Pinterest confidentially filed paperwork to go public, according to two people familiar with the decision, joining a stampede of high-profile start-ups heading toward the public markets.
The company, which has an app and a website that allow people to save images and links to virtual pin boards, filed its paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission in early February, the people said. They requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the filing publicly.
Private market investors have valued Pinterest at $12 billion. In September, it was expected to top $700 million in revenue last year, a 50 percent increase from 2017. At the time, it had 250 million monthly active users.
Mike Mayzel, a Pinterest spokesman, declined to comment.
The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that Pinterest had filed the paperwork with regulators.
The stampede of initial public offerings by highly valued Silicon Valley companies has intensified in recent weeks. Lyft is preparing to begin trading its shares in late April. Its ride-hailing rival, Uber, which filed its initial paperwork with the S. E. C. last year, is expected to follow. Investment bankers have estimated that Uber could be worth $120 billion on the public market.
Slack, an office messaging app company, has also filed to go public. The company was last valued at $7.
